After making emergency medical assistance available, probably the most critical thing needed after a disaster, especially hurricanes, is water. It is normally brought into the disaster area in water bottles on pallets. To address other possibilities, the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored a three year competition called “Waves to Water” with the expressed goal of developing small scale systems that could use wave power to desalinate seawater.
The winner of that competition was the small start-up company Oneka Technologies based in Quebec. The grand prize was $500,000. Their system, which is a buoy anchored to the sea floor, will produce on average 265 gallons per day, while it is only 8.5 feet wide and 5.5 feet deep and a couple of feet high. Normally it takes from 800 to 1,000 psi to force water through reverse osmosis membranes. While the winning system does not produce that amount of pressure, it does reduce significantly the fossil fuel needed to reach the necessary pressure.
The Department of Energy is very pleased with the number of entries and the various new and even old technologies used. The idea of using wave power to obtain drinkable water is an exciting idea, with the prospect of helping supply people with a very critical need. – Dr. Tom
